The Last Vacation
by authorette22
Summary: This is a BSCSweet Valley cross over. When Jessia and Elizabeth Wakefield meet the BSC in Sea City, Dawn learns a shocking secret. AN I got this idea from reading Before We Grow Up. I am not trying to steal the idea though.
1. Prologue

I don't own anything having to do with the Baby-Sitters club. I am only borrowing these characters.

Prologue

I can't believe I just graduated SHS! Family members always say how quickly a kid is growing up, but I really did not pay much attention until just now. It seems like just yesterday I was twelve and in the seventh grade. Starting this fall, I will be leaving my hometown of Stoneybrook, Connecticut and attending classes at the University of Georgia! If only I didn't have to wear a dress to except the piece of paper that is my admissions ticket to enter that part of my life. Give me a pair of jeans or cords, and a sweatshirt or t-shirt and I'm happy. Actually, if I didn't have boobs the size of Texas, you would not be able to tell I was a girl.

Despite this being a happy time for me, I was also feeling somewhat depressed. The reason for this is because five out of seven members of the Baby-Sitters Club had graduated that day. True, we were handing it down to former charges that are now old enough to baby-sit themselves, but as the clubs founder, it felt like I was letting go of a child.

I should mention two of the original club members, Jessie Ramsey and Mallory Pike were still in high school because they are two years younger than the rest of us. However, Mallory goes to a boarding school is Massachusetts and Jessie claimed she did not feel right being the only starting member, but I think she was using our graduation as an excuse to quit. Jessie did enjoy baby-sitting, and was a great sitter, but her true passion is ballet. She has aspirations of becoming a professional dancer after completing high school.

Mallory is the oldest of eight. When she was younger, she often felt her parents treated her more like a live in baby-sitter than their daughter. To be honest, I am shocked she stuck around as long as she did. Then again, I'm one to talk, but I'll explain that later. The most important thing to know about Mallory is she loves to write. She is the only person I have ever met that does not groan when teachers assign papers that have to be anything longer than half a page. I think she may have even been published once, but I am uncertain of that.

Next to her, I have the largest family. However, mine is blended. When my youngest brother was a baby, our biological father walked out on us in the middle of the night. That is sort of the reason I formed the BSC. Sam, Charlie, and I each took turns looking after David Michial after school, but one afternoon none of us were available. As I guiltily observed Mom search for a baby-sitter, it occurred to me that it would be easier to call one number and get a bunch of people at once.

Anyway, Mom married Watson Brewer a year later. The guy is a millionaire. Looking back, that is probably a good thing, and I don't just mean the money part. Watson has two children from a previous marriage, Karen and Andrew. Soon after Mom and Watson married, they adopted a two year old girl whom they named Emily Michelle. By now the number of small children was greater than the number of teens and adults. My grandmother, nanny, had to move in to help take care of Emily Michelle. She died last year. Fortunately, Emily Michelle is the only little kid at home. She'll be starting third grade at SES in the fall, and after school she will have to go to day care whether she likes it, or not.

I am almost forgetting my best friend Mary-Ann Spier. Her mother died when she was really young. As a result, she ended up growing up with only her father. For years, Richard was super strict. He even picked out her clothes, which were usually pretty babyish, and forced her to wear her long brown hair in two braids everyday. All that changed when Dawn Schafer moved to town with her younger brother Jeff and their mother Sharon. It turned out that Richard and Sharon were high school sweet hearts. Thanks to match-makers Dawn and Mary-Anne, their parents met and fell in love all over again. After their parents married, Richard and Mary-Anne moved to Dawns. They lived in an old farm house on Burnt Hill Road. Unfortunately, neither Dawn nore Jeff ever adjusted to Stoneybrook and both ended up going back to California to live with their Dad. Dawn graduates this year, as well.

After the wedding, Mary-Anne's father loosened his grip quite a bit. He took her to the mall and let her pick out a new wardrobe, and later payed for her to have a make-over. Finally, she was the first of us to have a steady boyfriend. Logan Bruno moved here from Kentucky. Those two have been dating on and off ever since. It would not shock me if the next time my best friend calls me it's to tell me those two love birds are engaged to be married!

Last we have Claudia Kishi and Stacey McGill. Until we moved Claudia lived across the street from Mary-Anne and me. She's Japanese American and grew up with her parents and older sister Janine. Those two siblings are so different if I did not know different, I'd swear they came from different families. Janine is a total genius. She even got to take classes at a nearby junior college while she was still attending Stoneybrook High.

For years, Claudia was the complete opposite. She was lucky if she managed to bring a "D" home in certain classes. Back then, the only thing she excelled at was art. As she is also addicted to junk food of all types, it was thought by most her ambition would be to become the fattest woman on earth. Thankfully, one of Claudia's teachers arranged for her to be tested for various disabilities in tenth grade. It was determined she had dyslexia, as well as ADD. With the help of teachers, tutors, and her family, Claudia was able to find ways to work around her problems. It payed off, too. The once "C" average student was receiving A's and B's!

Her best friend Stacey is different from her in certain ways. For one thing, she was the best math student among the seven of us. In her spare time, Stacey volunteers as a tutor at SHS, at least she did. Like Dawn, Mary-Anne, and me, she has her family splintered. She moved her from New York with her parents at the start of seventh grade. One year later, her father's job gave him a mandatory transfer to New York. Soon after, good and bad news arrived. The good news was Stacey and her mother were coming back to Stoneybrook. The bad news was her parents were getting a divorce.

The other difference between the two friends was Stacey is not allowed to eat junk food. Not because her parents are like Claudia's, but because she is diabetic. She has to keep a strict diet, plus take insulin shots several times a day.

Anyway, graduation was long over, and my friends and I were about to head over to Logan's new apartment for a party. As I stood up, it occurred to me this most likely was the last summer we'd all be spending together. The serious part of life was calling for us. Sure we'd probably come home for the summer, but now that we were adults we had to get jobs. What better way to end your childhood than to spend it with your best friends!

Before I could change my mind, I signaled for my friends to step away from the crowd mingling around us. "We need to take a a vacation!" I declared spontaneously.

Instead of the enthusiastic response I'd hope for, the others just stared at me in disbelief. I started to walk off to my car, figuring it was best to leave the subject alone and head for Logan's. "That's a great idea!" someone shouted behind me.

Turning around, I was shocked to see it was my best friend. Minutes later, the others nodded in agreement. All we had to do now was get the keys to the Pike's house, which we could do when Mallory returned for the summer. Knowing I had something that needed to be organized put a spring in my step, and I quickly scurried off to my car, urging my friends to speed up. This would definitely be a summer to remember.


	2. Chapter 1:Claudia

Chapter One: Claudia

As I watched Kristy hasten toward the parking lot, I wanted to brain her. Just that morning, I'd been telling everyone, the BSC's founder included, how I was all aflutter to embark on my first and last summer of freedom. Knowing her, the "vacation" she had planned would involve a long-term baby-sitting job of some sort.

I was now eighteen-years-old. I had better things to do with my time than watch snotty nosed rug rats. For instance, get rid of the junk in my room. Not that the junk was within eye-shot of anyone. In fact, the things I planned on purging were hidden in various places. Despite that, I knew I had to rid my room of all the remaining junk food, as well as the Nancy Drew stories. If I didn't do it soon, someone was bound to find them after I moved out and be very angry at me. Now was a day for celebration, however. I could worry about moving preparations another day.

With that, I headed for the brand new Jeep my sister Janine had given me. Backing out of the school parking lot for the final time, I yanked the cigarettes and lighter from their hiding place in the glove compartment. I'd been a smoker for over a year, and somehow my parents and sister were still oblivious. Either that, or they were afraid I'd bite their heads off if they tried to force me to quit.

As I drove to the apartment Logan had purchased for himself and Mary-Anne, I pondered how different we'd all become. Meek Mary-Anne was pursuing a sexual relationship with Logan. Stacey and I would be getting an apartment together. Kristy was finally starting to behave like a female, rather than a boy with breasts. Though she still griped when she was forced, I even saw her wearing dresses sometimes. The more I thought about this, the sadder I got. Growing up, Mary-Anne had always been the emotional one. I'd never been much of a crier, so it came as a shock to me when I realized my own eyes were filling up.

"Damn it!" I shouted. I am not sure why I felt the need to curse. There was just this odd feeling inside of me and I needed to find an outlet for it before I met up with the others.

"Claudia?" I heard a concerned voice call out.

Great. Just great. I turned around, trying to stop the shameful expression from forming on my face. When I saw who'd shouted my name, however, that task became impossible. "Mallory?" I asked, confused.

"You did not think I'd stay at River Bend when my friends graduated high school did you?" Mallory replied," Logan and Mary-Anne planned this weeks ago. I told them not to tell anyone."

Without another word,I embraced my younger friend warmly. Breaking apart, I gestured toward the rectangular shaped building in front of us. "Shall we check out what is so great about "Stoneybrook Towers"?" I asked.

There was a man standing just inside the door. When we asked which apartment was Logan's, he looked surprised. I couldn't blame him. Most men with live-in-girlfriends would not have so many woman callers at one time. Pressing a button, he said something to someone through an intercom. "Go on up," instructed the man.

Before we could knock at the door, Mary-Anne flung it open. Her brown eyes sparkled. She had swapped the fancy gown she'd warn for graduation for a nylon sun dress. "Is that you in there?" I joked.

"It's not like you've never seen me wear a dress before," she replied, giving me a playful punch on the shoulder.

"Never one like that," came a bold voice from behind us. Unbeknown to us, Kristy had sneaked in behind Mal and me.

It was not long before everyone, but Dawn had arrived. Sadly, Mary-Anne informed us her stepsister would not be able to fly out for a few days. After several hours of childlike chattering, a shrill whistle hushed everyone up. Kristy had blown her ever present whistle, causing Jessie to spill her diet coke all over her best friend. "As we all know, today is the first day of the rest of our lives."

We all laughed at that comment. Kristy was always quoting the stupid things our parents said. "Seriously, guys. Don't you think we should all go to Sea City one last time? I know Mary-Anne liked the idea."

To my horror, Mallory was jumping up and down happily. "Yeah. Maybe then Mom won't be so mad at Clair. When I got home, they were in the living room. Mom was chewing her ass out. I didn't even know Mom knew words like that!"

I sighed inwardly. Turning to Kristy, I asked if this was a true vacation. I kept silent, but truth be told, I was no more interested in one of Kristy's working vacations than I was having a tooth ache.

A slight expression of anger appeared on Kristy's face, but she left my question unanswered. Instead, she continued babbling. "From what Mrs. Pike tells me there has been a small group of coeds from California around our age that have been renting the house nearby for the past few years."

Mallory wrinkled her nose unhappily. "Yeah. One of the girls as well as one of the guys are really snooty. They think they own the world."

Again I resisted the urge to sigh audibly. Inwardly I weighed the pros and cons of this trip. Spending the summer with friends was certainly more appealing than working alone. Yet, I had vowed to concentrate exclusively on my artwork. Then again, who's to say I couldn't work on my art in Sea City. The beach would offer a large array of subjects. That did it. I was in!

Suddenly, inspiration struck. Let's go to the Rosebud Cafe! This calls for a celebration!

A/N Hope this makes more sense. I will follow with a new chapter shortly. Bare with me. I lost a pet over the weekend so I am not functioning at my best.


	3. Chapter 2: MaryAnne

Chapter Two: Mary-Anne

Waving good-bye to my boyfriend, I scurried out the door. In all honesty, I had been shocked when Claudia suggested this. Most of us had spun off in separate directions over the course of the past four years. It occurred to me the BSC had not congregated since handing the club to Jessie's younger sister Rebecka and a few other former charges the previous month.

Thinking about this caused my eyes to instantly fill with tears. Despite maturing a great deal, I'd never stopped being emotional. However, I have finally learned to except this was an apparent flaw that had been embedded in me. This was not the time to mull over character flaws, however.

Before I knew it, my car was in the parking lot of one of my favorite middle school haunts. Smiling shyly, I noticed Kristy, Claudia, and the rest of the group had already congregated. I was delighted to see everyone laughing and talking on top of each other. For a few moments, I remained in my car observing my old friends.

My mind flashed back to seventh grade. I was thirteen again squealing as my best friend described her idea with extreme enthusiasm. Suddenly, a wave of memories washed over me. I recalled Claudia introducing Stacey, the hip new girl from New York City. The huge fight during which one of our charges got sick while I was sitting for them, and my new friend Dawn coming to my aid.

The wave of nostalgia would have probably continued, but Kristy's voice sudden broke through the haze. "Mary-Anne?" she asked. I noticed many of my friends hovering by the drivers' side door, many of them looking pale with fright.

"I guess my mind wandered off," I said. My face was quickly becoming flushed with embarrassment.

Smiling, my childhood best friend patted the crook of my left arm. "Don't worry about it. Let's head inside, though. Mal's holding our usual booth for us."

Inside, we found the others chatting easily. Kristy had to half-shout before they would quiet down and listen to her. "I should have brought my old whistle," Kristy declared.

Stacey rolled her blue eyes. "I don't care if you dress stylishly now. As far as I can tell, you're the same old Kristy." Everyone laughed at that comment.

Finally, Kristy held up a hand, signaling for silence. "As you know, I suggested a trip to Sea City as sort of a last childhood outing. You all seemed interested, but the trip can't happen if we don't plan it. We can drive there, if we take two cars. What about Dawn?" Kristy was looking straight at me when she asked this question. As if I should know how my step sister got anywhere. She was so heavy into the whole "Save The Earth" shit. For all I knew, she would not even except the offer!

Finally, I grudgingly agreed to call her. I have to admit, though, I was no more interested in making this call than I was in having my teeth drilled into. Kristy was my childhood best friend, though. During our prepubescent lives, she had always been there for me. This as good a way to repay her as any.

"Excellent!" Mallory chimed in.

"I guess that's it then," proclaimed Kristy," let's meet in front of Claude's old house Saturday morning. Meeting adjourned."


End file.
